Cold Blood
by EnigmaticAssassin
Summary: While practicing her free-running skills on a cool February evening in 1798, Assassin Apprentice Elise de la Serre makes a shocking discovery: The dead body of a fellow Assassin Apprentice lying under the stained glass window of the Sainte-Chappelle Catherdral. Elise and Arno are tasked with finding and bringing the killer to justice. Will they succeed? Please Read and Review!


On a chilly February evening, Assassin Apprentice Elise de la Serre was enhancing her free-running skills under the graceful watch of her husband Arno Dorian, who stood and watched her from a distance. Elise took a running start up to a pillar of the Saint-Chappelle Cathedral, and climbed up to grab the second ledge of the pillar. Elise used her legs to spring up and grab the next couple of ledges, and propel herself up to the second level. After she vaulted over the ledge, she turned around the corner, and was horrified with that she saw. A dead body wearing apprentice robes laid underneath the stained glass window, which had been recently repaired. Elise turned over to Arno, and waved her arm, wanting him to come over. She crouched down, and began to examine the corpse. Her face was puffy around the mouth, and a little bit around her eyes. The woman had dark red hair, and wore red and white Assassin Apprentice robes.

 _It seems that her body was propped up here,_ Elise thought, as Arno approached from behind her. Arno's eyes widened upon seeing the body.

"Sophie isn't going to be happy with this." Arno stated hushly, as he crouched down to examine the body. "This is Eliza Percee, Sophie's Hungarian apprentice."

Elise gasped.

"We've got to tell the council about this." Elise informed her husband. Arno nodded his head with approval. He walked up to the ledge, leaped over, and began his descent. Elise smiled, and followed her husband down the building. Once they got to the ground, they made their way to the Council to inform them of what had just happened.

* * *

Elise and Arno arrived at the council's table, and saw Guilaumme Beylier, Herve Quemar, and Sophie Trenet examining a map of Paris. Alongside them was Master Assassin Isaac Bellec, the son of Pierre Bellec. Trenet looked up and smiled upon seeing Elise and Arno. Quemar let out a disgruntled sigh.

"Welcome, Arno and Elise." Trenet greeted, as Beylier looked up too. "What brings you to us this evening?"

Elise cleared her throat.

"Your apprentice, Eliza Percee, is dead."

Gasps sprang from the Council. Trenet's eyes widened.

"Are you serious? This can't be!" Trenet exclaimed, as Beylier placed his hand on her shoulder. "Who could have done this?"

"Don't worry. We will find whomever is responsible for Eliza's death." Beylier reassured her, before turning to face Elise and Arno. "This reminds me. I discovered that my apprentice Roger has been missing for some time now."

Trenet looked back up from the table.

"I task you, Assassin and Apprentice, to look into the disappearance and death of Roger and Eliza, and bring us news of what you discover." Trenet ordered sternly. "Start your investigation tomorrow."

Elise and Arno nodded their heads, and began to walk towards their quarters. Just as they arrived at the door to their quarters, Elise heard a voice from behind her.

"Good luck, you two."

Elise turned around to see Isaac smiling. Elise returned a nod to him, before entering their quarters. Elise looked over to see Arno with two books in his hand.

"Where are you going, Arno?" Elise asked curiously.

"The archive." Arno replied happily. "I'm returning these books, and going to study for a few hours. I take it you are going to bed?"

He looked over to see Elise in a white blouse and her black breeches, smiling.

"I'll take that as a yes." Arno chimed, as he stood in the doorway. "Goodnight, Elise."

"Goodnight, Arno." Elise returned, as she crawled into her bed, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Arno awoke in the study, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. After letting out a yawn, Arno closed the book he was reading earlier and got up from his chair. On his way to get his weapons, he saw Isaac making some coffee. Into one cup Isaac poured an unknown substance. Arno squinted his eyes.

"What did you just put into that cup?" He asked sternly, pointing at the cup of coffee.

Isaac's eyes shifted around before returning to Arno.

"An herb, popular among people up in the Cafe."

"What kind of herb?" Arno questioned, his hands on his hips.

"Mint." Isaac retorted.

"Interesting." Arno replied suspiciously, as Isaac walked past him, and towards Elise's room. Growing suspicious, Arno froze, and activated his Eagle Vision. In his Eagle Vision, Elise, who was still sleeping, and Isaac were highlighted in blue, but something else caught Arno's eyes. The cup Isaac placed on Elise's nightstand was red, which indicated something bad was in the cup. Arno blinked, and saw Isaac walk out of the room, smiling. Arno squinted his eyes, and walked into Elise's room. She was just waking up, and about to reach for the cup of coffee on her nightstand. Just as she was about to put it to her lips, Arno swatted the cup out of her hands, shattering on the floor. Elise looked up at Arno confusingly.

"What the hell was that for, Arno?" Elise asked angrily.

"Something foul was in that cup, Elise." Arno replied sternly.

"What?"

"I saw Isaac place a foreign substance into your cup of coffee, Elise." Arno replied. "I want to pay him a visit at his home near the Temple, to see what his intentions were. Perhaps he could be linked to Roger and Eliza. Want to come with me?"

Elise let out a deep breath. "Of course I will. Just let me get changed into my robes."

Arno nodded his head, and left the room. Elise looked over to her left and reached for her black and red overcoat. She slid into it, and quickly did up the buttons on her coat. Elise opened the door, and saw Arno standing outside, waiting. Elise approached Arno, and pointed towards the long cave leading up to the Cafe. Arno nodded his head with approval, and the pair of Assassins began the long trek to Isaac's residence.

Elise and Arno arrived at Isaac's residence in the Temple District just before noon, taking them a few hours to navigate their way through the dense crowds of the Paris streets. The windows were boarded up, denying access from passers by. Arno approached the door.

"Isaac you son of a bitch, I've got some questions for you!" Arno shouted angrily, as he kicked the door down. When Elise and Arno walked in the door, and entered the drafty and dimly lit room, they were horrified to see the body of Roger, Beylier's Apprentice, propped up in the corner of his room. Elise walked up to Roger's body, and observed the swelling around Roger's face. Elise spotted a note sticking out of one of his pockets. She picked the note up off of the body, while Arno gave him his last rites. Elise read the note.

 _Reminder to myself,_

 _Throw this non-believer's body in the Temple moat, to be closer to his true brethren later today. Serre is next. Poison her coffee with aconite tomorrow morning and throw her corpse into the Seine._

"Arno. Read this." Elise said as she handed Arno the note. Arno began to read the note, and whistled when he finished reading the note.

"Proof he was intending to poison you this morning." Arno replied, as he turned around to examine the vials of liquid behind him. Elise approached his side. The liquid on the table was coloured brown. Elise held her hand to her mouth, discovering that it was aconite. "From what it looks like, his main intention was to poison you because of your Templar past. We have to bring this disturbing new up to the Council. Immediately."

Elise nodded her head in agreement, and accompanied her husband out the door, eager to inform the Council of the disturbing news they had just discovered.

* * *

Elise and Arno ran quickly through the Cafe Theatre, and rushed down the stairs behind the stage, to where the door that led to the Assassin Headquarters was. Arno quickly opened the door, and allowed Elise to pass through. After closing the door, Elise and Arno continued to run down the long cave, and through the headquarters, drawing the looks of other Assassins and Apprentices. Arriving at the strategy table, Elise and Arno were out of breath. Trenet and Beylier looked up, and chuckled.

"Out of breath?" Beylier asked, followed by a chuckle. "Where did you run from?"

"Isaac's place." Arno replied, between deep breaths.

"Why were you at Isaac's place?" Trenet asked curiously. "Did you pay him a visit or something?"

"No. We followed a lead of Arno's." Elise chimed in.

"A lead of Arno's?" Quemar asked, sounding disgusted. "What lead of Arno's?"

Elise looked over to Arno. Arno cleared his throat.

"This morning I saw Isaac pour an unknown substance into a cup of coffee, which he took into Elise's room. Through my gift, I saw something sinister in Elise's cup, and knocked it out of her hand. This prompted us to visit his residence by the Temple. Inside we didn't discover him. We discovered the body of Roger, whose face had symptoms of poisoning, much like Eliza's. We also found out what the unknown substance was. Aconite. He intended to poison Elise with it, and then dump her body in the Seine. He also wanted to throw Roger's body in the Temple moat, so he could be closer to his 'true brethren.'"

Arno placed the letter Elise found on Roger onto the table. Trenet was the first to pick it up and read it. Her eyes widened as she read it. Beylier peered over her shoulder to read as well. A shocked look came over Beylier's face as he read the letter. Trenet handed the letter to Quemar, who briefly skimmed over the letter before placing it back on the table.

"I...I never would have imagined Isaac to do such heinous things. I am at a loss for words." Trenet said with a sad tone in her voice.

"What do you propose we do, Sophie?" Beylier asked cautiously.

Trenet returned a stern look towards him.

"Isaac is a threat to humanity. He needs to be brought to justice." She replied, looking up at Elise and Arno. "Elise. Arno. I task you with bringing Isaac Bellec to justice. I do not care which one of you does it, as long as the deed gets done."

"You have our word, Mentor." Elise replied, with a bow of her head. Arno bowed his head as well. Elise and Arno left the table and descended down the stairs, turning to their left to begin the long trek down the cave leading up to the Cafe Theatre. Upon arriving at the door, Arno opened and held the door open, allowing Elise to pass through.

"I think we should pay Eliza's sister a visit." Arno told Elise, as they exited the Cafe. "She has an art shop not too far away from here, across the bridge. Perhaps she could have seen Isaac."

"We can always ask." Elise replied, with a wink. Arno responded with a kiss on her cheek.

The sun began to slowly set in the sky as they were crossing the bridge, turning the sky a beautiful yellow-orange color. Elise and Arno approached the art shop, easily identified by the hanging pieces in the windows. They entered, and saw a short young woman with red hair and blue eyes, sitting at her easel, focused as ever.

"Excuse me, Mademoiselle Percee?" Elise asked politely. The young woman looked up at her, and gasped.

"I'm so sorry! Apologies for the mess! Just let me tidy up here..."

Elise placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, relax." Elise reassured her. "What is your name?"

The young woman looked up at her.

"My name is Bettina Percee, Betty for short." Bettina replied, looking around her shop. "I've painted a lot more in an attempt to cope with the loss of my sister. I was heartbroken to find out about her murder from your Council."

"We are here looking for the man who committed the crime." Arno informed the two women. "The man's name is Isaac Bellec. Have you seen him around here recently?"

Bettina paused for a few moments to ponder about Arno's question.

"No, I haven't...wait a moment!" She exclaimed, leaping up from her stool. "I do recall seeing a hooded man with a brown beard walk toward Notre-Dame not too long before you came here. Try looking there."

Arno mouthed the word _fuck,_ and nodded his head in disappointment. Elise shot him a stern look, and returned her focus to Bettina.

"Thank you." Elise replied, bowing her head. As Elise and Arno exited her shop, Elise heard Bettina's voice again.

"Madame Elise," Bettina said as Elise turned around.

"Yes?" Elise asked politely.

"End him."

Elise nodded her head with approval, and joined her husband as they began to make their way towards Notre-Dame Cathedral.

* * *

Elise and Arno stood on the roof of a building not too far away from Notre-Dame Cathedral. A gloomy grey fog hung over the district as the sky began to turn black from red. From afar, Elise and Arno examined the Cathedral, looking for any signs of Isaac. After looking around for a few moments, Arno spied a figure standing at the top of the left bell tower. Arno was about to descend down the building to investigate, but was held back by Elise.

"I'll take care of him."

"Elise, You can't go up there alone. I don't want to lose you again."

Elise held up her arm.

"Trust me, I will take care of him. He tried to kill me, Arno. He's my target."

Arno sighed.

"Very well. Bring him to an end, Elise." Arno replied sternly. "I will watch from afar. But be forewarned, the first moment I see you in trouble, I'm coming to your aid."

Elise nodded her head, and quickly descended down the face of the building, while Arno made himself comfortable on the roof. After descending down from the building, Elise looked up the left bell tower of Notre-Dame, and let out a deep breath. She took a running start towards the tower, and leaped up onto the lowest ledge, and used each ledge she could reach as leverage. Climbing up the tower with relative ease as the moon began to peer over to her right. Near the top, Elise used a gargoyle statue to prop herself up onto the roof. She looked over to see a shadowy hooded figure unsheath its Hidden Blade.

"So, the red-haired bint has arrived." The figure berated Elise. "How unexpected."

"Isaac." Elise replied, as he turned around. "Why did you kill Eliza and Roger?"

Isaac laughed at Elise's question.

"People who truly don't believe in the Creed have no place in the halls of the Brotherhood!" Isaac shouted. "Eliza deserved to die!"

"So that's why you intended to poison me by putting aconite in my coffee?"

"Templars joining the Brotherhood deserve to die too. Just like Roger." Isaac snarled, pulling out his sword. "Like my father before me, I dream of a Brotherhood of dedicated Assassins with no outside ties!"

"Your father was a madman! He killed Mirabeau because Mirabeau would've made a truce with me." Elise roared back. "He was blinded by his fanaticism, much like you are now! He was slain by Arno because he would have killed the entire Council!"

"I was different. I stayed true to the Creed, unlike Arno." Isaac retorted. "I had the privilege of escorting him out of the hallowed halls when he was excommunicated by Trenet. Oh how I remember that day..."

Elise extended her sword, and pointed it towards him.

"I'm bringing you to the Council, so you can answer for your crimes."

"Try me, bint." Isaac said cockily, before charging at Elise. "I'll put you in the ground where you belong."

Elise and Isaac took swings at each other, locking swords with nearly every swing. Isaac caught Elise off guard, and knocked her sword from her hand. Catching her sword in his right hand, he cornered Elise in the corner of the tower. Elise was clutching her bloody right wrist in pain. He held his sword to her breast, causing Elise to freeze. He looked down upon her.

"Arno said you were well versed in combat." Isaac retorted, poking the sword tip into Elise's right breast, along with spitting on her. "Clearly that was a lie. Now, Elise, say goodbye to the earth, Templar scum..."

Just as he was about to lift her sword, Elise kicked it out of his hand, and causing Isaac to fall backwards. Elise got up, and quickly picked up her sword. She backed Isaac up towards the ledge of the roof. She then placed her sword in her scabbard and flicked out her Hidden Blade, holding it to his throat.

"Now I will take you to the Council." Elise stated sternly, grabbing his collar.

"Père, je rentre à la maison!" Isaac shouted, as he thrust Elise's Hidden Blade into his throat. Elise watched as blood began to spill out from his wound. Much to her horror, Elise watched as Isaac's body fell over the roof of Norte-Dame, past Elise's outstretched arms, and down to the ground below. Elise got up to her knees, and wiped Isaac's blood from her face and gloves. She paused to reflect on what had just happened before her eyes before letting out a deep breath, and descending down the tower. Arriving at the bottom at the tower safely, Elise approached the body of Isaac Bellec. She knelt beside his body.

"Repose en paix." Elise whispered, as she closed his eyes. She nodded her head curtly as Arno walked up to her.

"I saw him fall from the tower from the roof of the building I was on." Arno informed Elise, as she got up from her knees. "What all happened up there?"

Elise looked down at the body of Isaac Bellec, and then back up to Arno.

"He berated me up there, and issued me his thoughts." Elise replied, as Arno placed Isaac's body in a haystack not too far away. "He believed that Eliza and Roger deserved to die because they weren't loyal to the Creed. He stated that he was intending to poison me by lacing my coffee with aconite, which was the coffee you knocked out of my hand this morning."

"I never knew he was that much like his father." Arno inquired, as the pair began to make their way back to Cafe Theatre. "Attempting to poison you like his father did to Mirabeau. I'll brief the Council on what happened when we get back. As for you, my love, you need some rest. Rest up tonight, and I will tell you about what the Council said tomorrow morning."

Elise nodded her head, as the pair of Assassins quietly opened the door to Cafe Theatre, and made their way through to the Assassin headquarters without making a single sound.

* * *

Elise was sitting in her quarters early the next morning, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened before her eyes. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knocking on her door. Opening the door was her husband, Arno Dorian. In his hands were robes, to which he handed to her. Elise looked down at the robes that were handed to her, and then looked back up at him in bewilderment.

"Are you here to tell me about..."

Arno held his hand up, politely quieting her.

"It is time, Elise." Arno informed her. "Change into these robes, and come down to the main chambers."

Arno left the room. Elise shut the door behind her, and unbuttoned her apprentice overcoat, which revealed her white blouse. After removing her belts, She then unbuttoned her blouse, and removed it, letting her breasts drop. Among her new robes was a white collared shirt. She unbuttoned it, and slid her arms through the sleeves. She quickly buttoned up her shirt. Elise picked up the large overshirt with a long trail, adorned with golden buttons on the front and and extra fabric extending down the left sleeve. Elise picked it up, and wiggled her arms through the sleeves. She got her head through the top of her shirt, and popped the collar through as well. The ends of the sleeves were rolled back, and dyed red and white. Elise grabbed her belts from her bed, and fastened them around her waist. She grabbed her cutlass, and placed it in her scabbard. Elise let out a deep breath, and made her way towards the main chambers.

Upon entering the main chambers, Elise saw Master Assassins and their apprentices standing in two parallel lines, leading up to the four members of the Council, and Arno. A beaming smile came across his face as Elise approached. In front of the Council members was a cauldron full of burning coals.

"Kneel, if you would." Beylier ordered, as Elise heeded his words immediately. Sophie Trenet walked up to Elise.

"Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq kouloun moumkine." She spoke aloud, in Arabic. "The wisdom of our Creed is revealed through these words. We work in the dark, to serve the light. We are Assassins."

Arno turned to face his wife.

"Elise." He began, the smile still on his face. "We dedicate our lives to protecting the free will of humanity. Isaac Bellec was a threat to humanity's free will, but is no more, thanks to your heroic actions upon Norte-Dame. For this, the Council has bestowed upon you, Elise de la Serre, the rank of Master Assassin. May you continue to protect the free will of humanity for years to come."

Elise smiled, and followed it up with a curt nod of her head. She returned her focus to the members of the Council. Beylier cleared his throat.

"Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember..."

"Nothing is true." Elise returned, bowing her head.

"Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember..."

"Everything is permitted." Elise replied to Beylier, finishing his sentence.

"Come forward." Trenet beckoned Elise forward to the cauldron. Arno took the tongs out of the coals. Arno indicated to Elise to extend her ring finger. Elise slowly stretched out her arm and finger towards Arno. Elise could feel the hot tongs caress the base of her finger with immense heat.

"Welcome, Sister." Trenet said, placing her hand on Elise's shoulder. Elise turned over to Arno, who was standing with open arms. Elise approached him, and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him with a tight hug. The Council members smiled, aside from Quemar, who was still a little bitter towards Elise because of her Templar past. Arno led Elise out of the main chambers, and to the roof of Cafe Theatre.

Elise and Arno arrived at the roof of Cafe Theatre, just as the sun towered over the great Notre-Dame. Before Elise was a plank extending a few feet away from the roof. Beneath the plank was a haystack.

"To complete your initiation as a Master Assassin, you must perform a Leap of Faith." Arno stated, as he extended his right arm towards the plank. Elise heeded his order, and walked out onto the plank. She pulled up her hood, and took a deep breath. An eagle screeched, as she extended her arms, and leaped from the plank. Else could feel a rush of adrenaline hit her as she flew through the air. As she landed back first into the haystack, she was no longer Elise de la Serre the Assassin Apprentice. She was now Elise de la Serre, Master Assassin of the French Brotherhood.


End file.
